Destination Marketing Impact

Key 2024 Destination Marketing Stats

The Destination Marketing department leads all marketing initiatives for Visit Greater Palm Springs (VGPS), working in close collaboration with the Partnership & Community Engagement, Convention Sales, and Tourism Development teams. This ensures a unified and impactful message across all media channels, reinforcing the Greater Palm Springs brand identity and marketing position.

2024 Marketing Overview

In 2024, Visit Greater Palm Springs executed a robust, multi-channel consumer advertising strategy designed to amplify brand visibility, drive engagement, and deliver measurable results in key drive and fly markets across all campaigns generating a total of 30B impressions across all platforms. Through innovative campaigns, strong partnerships, and targeted initiatives, Visit Greater Palm Springs achieved exceptional results in 2024. These efforts not only elevated the destination’s profile but also supported stakeholders, strengthened community engagement, and drove demand year-round, solidifying Greater Palm Springs as a premier travel destination.

Overall Campaign Impact

• Television: Leveraged strategic placements on cable networks, KTLA Los Angeles, and connected TV platforms to elevate awareness in key markets.
• Out-of-Home (OOH): Targeted drive and fly markets with high-impact outdoor advertising, ensuring a strong presence in critical feeder regions.
• Digital Presence: Maximized visibility on leading OTAs such as Expedia, VRBO, TripAdvisor, and Travelzoo through targeted campaigns, including a standout VRBO summer vacation rental video initiative and a Travelzoo Destination Showcase.

Digital Campaign Highlights

• Programmatic Advertising: Deployed campaigns via Centro and Sojern, aligning with major initiatives such as Oasis of Art, Workforce Development, Benefits of Tourism, and the Summer Eats Pass.
• Rich Media Ads: Delivered innovative, interactive, and high-impact advertising experiences using platforms like AdTheorent and Undertone.
• Native Content: Promoted destination pillars via established travel content platforms like Fodors and Lonely Planet, and highlighted niche pillars via publications like Locale, DogTrekker, and SpaFinder.

Cooperative Advertising Programs

• Program Offerings: Included TV, digital outdoor billboards, display, native content, and streaming audio via Pandora (operating seasonally in 2024 and transitioning to year-round in 2025).
• Riverside County Grant: Supported co-op advertising efforts through December 2024, ensuring extended opportunities for partners.
• In-Kind Event Support: Offered billboard promotions in Los Angeles and San Diego for signature and first-time events to boost local awareness.

2024 Co-Op Partner Participation

• Digital/Billboard Partners (7): Included Acme House Vacation Rentals, BNP Paribas Open, City of Desert Hot Springs, Desert Island Country Club, Hyatt Regency Indian Wells, The Galleri Classic, and Sensei Porcupine Creek.
• Summer TV Partners (15): Featured Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza, BMW Performance Center, The Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, and other key partners, showcasing the destination’s diverse offerings.
• Fall/Winter TV Partners (4): Highlighted collaborations with BNP Paribas Open, The Galleri Classic, Palm Springs Preferred Small Hotels, and Agua Caliente Casinos.

Video Content Production

In 2024, the team marked the highest level of video and content production to date, with dedicated shoots for the following campaigns and productions:

• New “Escape Your Ordinary” video content featuring diverse locations
• Ten summer co-op partner TV spots and additional edits produced with Sonic Gods
• Season 2 of the “Your Guide to Greater Palm Springs” series with Alle Pierce
• Season 2 of the “Art & Sol” series produced with Part Time Genius
• BBC’s In Pursuit of Wellness documentary highlighting the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
• “Sustainable Travel’s What Next?” sustainability documentary featuring The Living Desert and Friends of the Desert Mountains, produced in partnership with Zinc Media
• VRBO video campaign and a flagship summer social video initiative with Sonic Gods
• Workforce Development video updates and Champions of Hospitality gala segments produced with Summerland Creative

2024 Consumer Marketing Achievements

New Brand Campaign -  Escape Your Ordinary: The launch of Escape Your Ordinary, developed in partnership with Starfish Branding Agency, served as the cornerstone of our 2024 marketing efforts.

• Development & Testing
  • Three campaigns tested with SMARI research, ensuring data-driven creative refinement.
  • Production in April captured 17 stunning locations throughout Greater Palm Springs.
• Launch
  • Debuted in late October 2024 across digital, print, social media, content platforms, and a dedicated VGPS landing page featuring new blog content.
• Preliminary Results
  • Increased click-through rates, higher engagements, and improved video completion rates across platforms.

Culinary Campaigns - dineGPS: Our dineGPS initiatives celebrated the destination's culinary diversity; driving traffic to local restaurants and highlighting the area’s vibrant food scene:

• New Video Series
  • In partnership with Box of Kittens, six new episodes debuted in December, spotlighting themes such as Tacos & Tamales, Food Trucks, Outdoor Dining, Farm-to-Table, Happy Hours, and Dog-Friendly Dining.

• Restaurant Week/Summer Eats Pass
  • Deployed dedicated media plan beginning in April to promote Restaurant Week.
  • Collaborated with Bandwango to deploy the free Summer Eats mobile pass following Restaurant Week.
  • Campaigns for both Restaurant Week and the Summer Eats Pass included digital, print, OOH, and social media, with 1,979 downloads of the mobile pass and participation from 29 local restaurants.
  • New baggage claim OOH ads for the Summer Eats Pass at PSP targeted arriving visitors.

Arts & Culture - Oasis of Art / Art & Sol: The Oasis of Art initiative underscored Greater Palm Springs as a vibrant cultural hub. This campaign celebrates the region’s artistic and cultural offerings:

• Art & Sol Series (Season 2)
  • Four new episodes created with Part Time Genius highlighted murals, public art, visual art, and performing arts, featuring seven local artists.
  • Supported by a comprehensive media plan including digital video ads, native content, and social media campaigns.

Destination Pillars - Outdoor Experiences & Wellness: Aligned with key destination themes, marketing efforts leveraged prominent travel platforms:

• Content Campaigns
  • Partnerships with AFAR Magazine, SpaFinder, and DogTrekker targeted niche audiences (luxury, wellness, and pet-friendly travel).
  • Platforms like Lonely Planet and Fodor’s delivered wide-reaching brand content.
• Digital Amplification
  • Blogs, itineraries, and engaging social media videos aligned with these pillars.

OTA Campaign Success: A strong presence on OTA platforms drove significant bookings and awareness:

• Expedia’s National Campaigns
  • As a featured destination, Greater Palm Springs generated 12M+ digital impressions and 25M out-of-home impressions, along with over $5M in gross booking revenue through initiatives like “No Days Left Behind” and “Unpacked 2025 Trends.”
  • Campaign elements included high-impact OOH placements, editorial content, PR, and social media.
• VRBO & Expedia Results
  • Delivered over 156K hotel room nights, 114K vacation rental nights, and $106M+ in gross bookings.
• TripAdvisor
  • Generated $1.4M+ in hotel revenue and $4.3M in economic impact.
• Travelzoo
  • Partner pages and campaigns yielded 19.6M impressions and 111K+ clicks.

Seasonal Campaigns - Summer Chill: Launched in May/June, Summer Chill focused on increasing off-peak visitation during the summer months:

• Multi-Channel Approach
  • Television (including partner co-op spots), social media, digital ads, print, streaming audio, and website content.
  • Generated over 8 billion impressions with 416K+ TV spots aired.
  • Social media alone delivered 2.5M impressions, 19K+ engagements, and 3,178 new followers.

NCAA – Acrisure Series: Sponsorship of the Acrisure Series, which returned for a second year to Acrisure Arena with 21 teams and 19 games over 4 days over Thanksgiving week.

• In-arena LED signage with VGPS messaging and social handles, including the full arena LED ring, scoreboard signage, and court floor logo.
• :30 Greater Palm Springs brand commercial included in all 19 game airings, with 1.3M+ viewers across TruTV and MAX. In-game lower thirds also aired along with additional b-roll segments during on-air transitions.
• Branding of compound VIP area to enhance experience.

Oasis is Real: Convention Sales Campaign: A comprehensive media plan targeted meeting planners utilizing digital display, print, email, podcast advertising, social media, video, and editorial articles in key publications like Smart Meetings, Northstar Meetings Group, Connect, MPI, and Conference Direct. 

The “Oasis is Real” campaign emphasized air service, outdoor meeting spaces, and unique off-site venues. This multi-channel approach aims to elevate Greater Palm Springs’ visibility and engagement among meeting planners.

Some key highlights include: 

• High-Impact Digital Ads: Video pop-ups, digital wallpaper, and homepage wraps on major publisher websites like Smart Meetings and Northstar.
• Innovative Digital Platforms: Digital platforms like Nativo, AdTheorent, and Clicktivated allowed for more precise targeting and new ways of reaching this audience with native content, rich media units, and interactive videos. 
• Email Lead Generation: Partnered with Meetings Today for drip campaigns, tracking engagement via dedicated newsletters.
• Custom Content: Produced an interview segment with Northstar at IMEX showcasing new and upcoming destination offerings.

2024 International Marketing – Key Achievements

The 2024 campaign focused on building lower funnel awareness and increasing conversions with our UK and Ireland audiences in our second year, as well as expanding our campaign offerings with new platforms and programs.

• Overall campaign performance resulted in over 35M impressions and 267K clicks to our website for the year.
• Expanded Google advertising including Performance Max, which uses Google’s AI to optimize campaign creative and targeting throughout the campaign duration, and Demand Gen, which incorporates video ads and image carousel formats.
• Continued to refine creative placements based on reviewing campaign performance, leaning into specific pillars that resonated more with UK audiences, such as wellness and outdoor activities.
• Launched TikTok Spark Ads, allowing us to further reach audiences across social platforms by allowing us to utilize our organic post content as paid advertising.

2024 Vacation Rentals Marketing/Production – Key Achievements
In 2024, vacation rentals were integrated throughout our overall marketing campaigns. Vacation rentals remained a vital component of our marketing strategy in 2024, with targeted campaigns and creative innovations driving significant engagement and bookings. These efforts not only showcased the unique offerings of vacation rentals but also reinforced Greater Palm Springs as a diverse and welcoming destination for all types of travelers. Below are the highlights.

Inclusion in Major Campaigns

• Escape Your Ordinary Brand Campaign
  • Short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) featured prominently in the campaign’s creative assets, including a dedicated ad set and digital outdoor billboards.
  • Year-round content incorporated vacation rental information, ensuring continuous visibility.

Summer VRBO Campaign

• Campaign Overview
  • Ran July through September with custom landing pages, newly produced video content, and digital/social media support.
  • Filmed at three vacation rental properties across Greater Palm Springs.
• Results
  • Return on Ad Spend: $107:$1
  • Room Nights Generated: 1,900
  • Gross Booking Revenue: $14.2M
  • Social Media Impact: Over 11.1M impressions and 125K clicks

Dedicated Vacation Rental Programs

• Sunset Magazine
  • Vacation rental-focused campaign included email banner ads to 134K subscribers and social media promotion.
• Undertone
  • High-impact “page grabber” interactive ads featured themes like dog-friendly rentals and rentals with unique pools.
  • Impact: 4.3M+ impressions and 72K+ clicks (May–June).
  • Consumer research rated ads above benchmark for emotional response and positivity.
• Clicktivated
  • Created interactive versions of a 30-second vacation rental video with clickable links promoting related content.
• Locale Magazine
  • Partnered on vacation rental messaging within articles and a dedicated video campaign filmed at five properties.
  • Content was promoted as Reels on Locale’s social media.
• California Live (NBC)
  • Produced and aired a vacation rental-focused segment in spring 2024 in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.